U.K. Judge: British Press Needs Powerful Watchdog

An eight month investigation into phone hacking and other abuses by British newspapers has concluded that the industry needs a powerful new watchdog with some legal powers to wield carrots and sticks. Judge Brian Leveson, who led the inquiry, says the watchdog would be independent and insists that it "cannot reasonably or fairly be be characterized as statutory regulation of the press." But Prime Minister David Cameron, who commissioned the investigation, voiced doubts about that, saying "I think it would be a dereliction of our duty in this House of Commons that has stood up for freedom and for free press year after year, century after century, to cross a Rubicon of legislating about the press without thinking about it very carefully, first." Cameron's stance angered victims of tabloid hacking. Said one "I think he's gone back on his word and I feel betrayed."